Excelsior class
|operator = Starfleet |Active = 2280s - 2370s |Decks = 34 |Armament = Phasers, photon torpedoes |Defenses = Deflector shields }} |operator = Starfleet |Active = 2290s - 2370s |Decks = 34 |Armament = Phasers, photon torpedoes |Defenses = Deflector shields | image2 = Excelsior-decks.jpg | imagecap2 = Refit Excelsior class Master System Display }} The Excelsior-class was a type of Federation starship used by Starfleet from the late 23rd century through the late 24th century. It was the backbone of Starfleet for nearly a century, making it one of the longest serving starship designs, and one of the most recognizable ships in the fleet. History The Excelsior-class was initially constructed during the early 2280s at Starfleet's San Francisco Fleet Yards orbiting Earth. ( dedication plaque) Starfleet had high hopes for the first ship of this class, the prototype , which was equipped with transwarp drive, and was regarded as that century's "Great Experiment." ( ) * See: Trial runs for more concise details of the USS Excelsior s early history.'' Despite the failure of the "Great Experiment," Starfleet forged ahead with employing the Excelsior design. After remaining in Earth Spacedock until at least 2287, the prototype Excelsior was subsequently recommissioned for active service by 2290. ( , , ) In 2293, the fate of the Excelsior design was sealed when Starfleet passed on the name of a legacy. The launch of the opened the door for the Excelsior-class to become one of the most widely used designs in all of Starfleet, a design lasting well into the late 24th century. ( ; ; – ) Once fully integrated into the fleet, the ''Excelsior s sister ships were used for a variety of mission profiles, ranging from deep space exploration and terraforming missions, to patrol duty, to courier and transport runs. ( ; ; , etc.) The Excelsior-class was also frequently used by the Starfleet flag officers for use as a personal flagship. ( ) The Excelsior-class was present in several major Federation engagements, including the Borg invasion of 2366-2367, where it participated at the Battle of Wolf 359, as well as the engagement against the Borg sphere that entered the Sol system in 2378. ( ; ) They were also present in numerous Dominion War battles, seeing action during Operation Return, the First and Second Battles of Chin'toka, and the Battle of Cardassia. Many Excelsior-class vessels were stationed on the front lines near Deep Space 9 during the war. ( , etc.) Details of this class would be retained well into the 31st century, when Captain Jonathan Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed viewed schematics on the class in the 22nd century while accessing the database belonging to temporal agent Daniels. ( ) Technical data Physical arrangement The Excelsior-class featured the saucer section-engineering section-warp nacelle layout common to most Starfleet vessels. However, it featured a more streamlined design than was seen in previous classes. Design features of the primary hull included a docking port located on the port side of the hull. ( ) Design upgrades Following its initial, and somewhat unsuccessful origins, the Excelsior underwent a minor refit, which included a new bridge module, in addition to a significant modification to the aft portion of the saucer section, surrounding the impulse drive, and a modification to the cargo bay on the aft ventral portion of the ship. This configuration would remain the standard for the Excelsior-class throughout its service. ( ) s (top) and additional scoop surrounding the deflector dish (bottom)]] In less than a decade, the ''Excelsior design underwent a second, more significant overhaul, as introduced with the launch of the Enterprise-B. While remaining true to the original design, this new configuration added several modifications to the basic hull, including the addition of a second pair of impulse engines, an expanded scoop surrounding the deflector dish, and the addition and removal of a number of fins located on the saucer and nacelles. ( ; ) As this class aged, Starfleet continued to incorporate the latest technology, through continued upgrades, refits and repairs, well into the 2360s and 2370s. In 2364, the underwent significant repairs at Starbase 74, while in 2367 the underwent a major system upgrade at Starbase 174. ( , etc.) Tactical systems The original Excelsior design was outfitted type 8 phaser emitters in five dual phaser emplacements on the forward saucer section, and one dual emplacement on the aft of the saucer. Phaser banks were also positioned laterally, located port and starboard, near the point that the primary and secondary hulls meet, as well as one emplacement located between the nacelles. ( ; production art; , etc.) In addition, the Excelsior was equipped with several photon torpedo launchers. The two primary launchers were located in the forward section, on both sides of the deflector dish seen as two dark colored ports ahead of the starfleet hull banners. The upper forward launchers were located on the neck section, also allowing ship access for cargo management units. Aft launchers were located above the main shuttlebay. ( production art) In addition, the shields were stronger than the refit, capable of withstanding a direct photon torpedo strike without suffering any visible damage to the outer hull. ( ) With the impending threat of the Dominion against the Federation, Starfleet began to experiment, in 2372, with performing a refit on the Excelsior-class . Upgrades included improved phaser emplacements, quantum torpedoes, and other improvements to make the ship competitive with such ship designs as the . ( ) File:USS Lakota fires on the Defiant-2.jpg|Dorsal saucer array, forward starboard File:USS Lakota fires on the Defiant-3.jpg|Dorsal saucer array, aft File:USS Lakota fires on the Defiant-4.jpg|Dorsal secondary hull array File:Excelsior class firing at Breen fleet.jpg|Dorsal saucer array, forward File:Excelsior class firing at orbital weapon platform.jpg|Ventral saucer array, forward File:USS Lakota fires on the Defiant-6.jpg|Starboard lateral phaser File:USS Excelsior firing torpedoes.jpg|Firing primary forward photon torpedoes File:USS Enterprise-B, upper torpedo launcher.jpg|Upper forward torpedo launcher File:USS Enterprise-B, upper torpedo bay.jpg|Ship access via upper forward torpedo bay Propulsion systems Initially the Excelsior was designed under a radically new principle in propulsion, the transwarp drive. While an awe-inspiring concept to some, it was the traditional engineers who remained skeptical of this new form of warp drive. ( ) Following this failure, the Excelsior spent the next two years in spacedock before being fitted with a traditional warp drive. ( ; ; ) s bridge control panels and computer readout displays seen in Star Trek VI tend to support this theory''". It was theorized by the Star Trek Chronology that this ship-wide systems failure might have been the one referenced to by Data when he mentioned no Federation vessel having such a problem in over eighty years in . On page 14 of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, it was stated that "while the attempt to surpass the primary warp field efficiency barrier with the Transwarp Development Project in the early 2280s proved unsuccessful, the pioneering achievements in warp power generation and field coil design eventually led to the uprated ''Excelsior and starships. Both vessels served Starfleet in exemplary fashion. They continue to do so, even beyond their original lifetimes."|Although several references were made to various ''Excelsior-class vessels traveling at "maximum warp" or "high warp", the maximum speed was never established. The only submittable reference comes from a line cut from that indicated Sulu ordering the Excelsior to warp 9 to get to Khitomer in time. In , Miles O'Brien was concerned about the potential "tinkering" that may have been "done to [the Lakota s] warp drive," when considering alternative options to combating the Lakota. For reference, the maximum known speed of the Defiant was warp 9.5. ( )}} By the early 24th century, Excelsior-class vessels were normally equipped with dilithium recompositing and recrystallization technology. The theta-matrix compositor of the time, which later became outdated, was upgraded by the time the was introduced. This new recrystallization process was ten times more efficient than that of the Excelsior-class. ( ) The Excelsior-class also used micro-power relays in its warp core matrix compositor. ( ) Interior design * See: ''Excelsior''-class decks, for deck configuration. Main bridge )]] Located on top of the primary hull, the Excelsior s main bridge directly supervised all primary mission operations and coordinated all departmental activities. Due to the age and variety of configurations of the Excelsior-class, bridge configurations varied from ship to ship. Against the aft wall of many Excelsior bridges was the large engineering master systems display monitor, showing a cutaway of the ship and status information. This was not originally part of the USS Excelsior configuration but added later, a feature shared with sister ship USS Enterprise-B. ( ; ; ; ) File:Excelsior bridge 2285.jpg|The main bridge of the , 2285 File:Excelsior Bridge 1.jpg|The main bridge of the USS Excelsior, 2293 File:Enterprise B bridge.jpg|The main bridge of the , 2293 transmitting from the bridge of the Malinche]] At least one Excelsior-class starship, the , had a holo-communicator installed in its main bridge in 2373. Upon first use of the technology, Malinche Captain Sanders described to Captain Benjamin Sisko, who was on the transmitting end on board the , "you appear to be sitting on my bridge. It may take me a while to get used to this." ( ) Ready room The captain's ready room was located adjacent to the bridge, and contained a desk and chair, along with a personal viewer, and was backed by several LCARS interfaces and an MSD. ( ; ) Ensign Nog of Deep Space 9 once explained to Chief O'Brien how Al Lorenzo liked to sneak into famous starship captain's offices and take holophotos of himself sitting behind their desks. Included in Lorenzo's collection was a holophoto of himself sitting behind Captain DeSoto's desk on board the Hood. ( ) File:Taggert (Captain).jpg|Captain Taggert transmits from his ready room on the , 2365 File:DeSoto transmits from the Hood.jpg|Captain DeSoto transmits from his ready room on the , 2366 File:Benteen transmits from the Lakota.jpg|Captain Benteen transmits from her ready room on the , 2372 Deflector room The deflector room, located on Deck 15, Section 21-alpha, was positioned directly behind the Excelsior s deflector dish. It was a small control room that could be accessed by a series of catwalks and ladders. The deflector room housed several consoles, in addition to the ship's deflector relays. ( ) Shuttle and cargo bays The Excelsior-class contained several cargo bays, including one located in the aft dorsal section of the secondary hull as well as several bays located along the ventral section of the secondary hull. ( production art) The main shuttlebay was located in the stern by the landing bay doors, which housed several shuttles of different types, including the type 7 shuttlecraft. ( ) Accommodations Senior officers, such as the captain, had private quarters below decks. Captain Hikaru Sulu's quarters were located on Deck 3. Many of the enlisted crew, junior officers and officers shared quarters and bunk areas. They varied in occupant size from four to nine. ( ; ) File:Excelsior quarters, Styles.jpg|Styles' quarters aboard the File:Excelsior quarters, Sulu.jpg|Sulu's quarters aboard the USS Excelsior File:Excelsior quarters, Tuvok.jpg|Officer's quarters aboard the USS Excelsior File:Excelsior quarters, bunks.jpg|Bunks aboard the USS Excelsior Ships commissioned ;Named * (NCC-14232) * * (NCC-42285) * * (refit, NCC-1701-B) * (prototype, NX-2000/NCC-2000) * * (NCC-14598) * (NCC-42111) * * (NCC-42296) * (NCC-38907) * (refit, NCC-42768) * * (NCC-62043) * (NCC-18253) * (NCC-2544) * (NCC-43305) ;Unnamed: * [[Unnamed Excelsior class starships|Unnamed Excelsior-class starships]] ;Uncertain: * * * * * * * (NCC-14934) Appendices Appearances * ''Star Trek'' films: ** ** ** ** ** (refit configuration) * ** ** (computer display) ** ** (computer display) ** (computer display) ** (computer display) ** ** (model & display) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** (refit configuration) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** (wall display) ** ** (on astrometrics screen) ** ** * (computer display) Background In the script for Star Trek III, the Excelsior was described as "a super starship. Her lines are similar to ''Enterprise, but she is clearly bigger, sleeker, and very new. She sits at her mooring like the new Queen of Space." In relation to the ''Enterprise, "their size differential is apparent ( to )."http://www.st-minutiae.com/academy/literature329/tsfs.txt Studio model Apart from the "hero" models, the various Excelsior-class models (or stock footage thereof), appearing in both the series premieres of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the series finales of Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, have been the most frequently seen Federation starship "guest-stars" in the Star Trek franchise. Design For , which was untill , the Star Trek production which introduced the most new starship designs at once, an unique approach to designing was adopted, not seen before or after in the Star Trek franchise. Instead of the traditional way of thinking out a design, devising a design, coming up with detailed drawings to be approved of by SFX supervisors and building models from blueprints, this time visual artists David Carson and Nilo Rodis-Jamero of Industrial Light & Magic produced their pre-visualization artwork and handed it over to model makers Steve Gawley, Bill George and their team to be translated into study models, in essence inviting them to use their own imagination to finish up on the design. Very much a collaborative effort, Carson later remembered,"We'd churn out quite a few sketches. Then the ones that were most promising we might polish up a little in color for presentation. It wasn't uncommon for me to do a drawing that would inspire Nilo, who would then turn it into his own drawing that would be much more impressive! He would often inspire me."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 8, page 48) Once turned over to the model makers the resulting study models were presented to producer Harve Bennett and/or director Leonard Nimoy for appraisal or as supervising model maker Gawley put it,"You had all these models sitting on a table so that the director could really get a feel for what we were talking about. It just made everything easier to understand, and insured that everybody was on the same page. It also made it easier to give cost estimates."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 8, page 20) Director of Photography Kenneth Ralston elaborated further,"From the beginning, once Nilo Rodis, one of the visual effects art directors, had done a sketch and they got an idea of what direction to go, the model people all built prototypes. The space dock had four or five small prototypes. The Bird of Prey, I think, had only two because we all knew this one design would work and we were selling that one. The Merchant Man and the ''Grissom also had several designs. When Leonard and Harve and Ralph Winter came to meetings we presented them with three dimensional models. It really is a lot better doing it that way because they can physically see how different angles would work."(American Cinematographer, August/September 1984, page 62) In the specific case of the ''Excelsior Rodis recalled, "The “Excelsior” had to be brilliant, and it had to steal thunder from the Enterprise.", to which Carson added, "We kicked around a few different ways to go with the “Excelsior”, but when Nilo did the drawing that led to the eventual design that was it, because it was very well received. It seemed to me to be a believable extension-a kind of next generation design."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 9, pp. 66-67) Study models variant.]] ]] The Rodis/Carson sketches, once approved, were sent down to ILM's model shop of Bill George who commented, "The art department had done a number of sketches. All of them were very different and very futuristic. They still had the basic theme of the dish and the engines, but they did not look like the “Enterprise” at all. I was given the job of building prototypes of those sketches. Leonard Nimoy was going to come up and look at them and hopefully choose one."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 9, p. 67) Some of the study models based upon Rodis' designs found their way into canon however. A two-engined model labelled (NCC-1404) found its way into the debris-field of Surplus Depot Z15 in the episode . Two four-engined variants, one of which with pivoting warp nacelles (a feature not canonically encountered till the advent of the ), were also present in the scene. The models therefore became canon albeit without class designations or names. Nilo's designs were all thin and long and George finished up upon the study models in good time. With time to spare Carson proposed to George to come up with his own ideas, who did, explaining, "When you're designing something you want to come up with a take on it that will drive the design. At the time I was really into Japanese design, so I thought, “OK, what would the “Enterprise” look like if the Japanese designed it?” That was the basis of what I came up with for the “Excelsior”".(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 9, p. 70) 's study models]] Upon this premise , George built a couple of study models, which had a deeper profile and a more rounded secondary hull section (one of which had a nacelle type later applied to the ). A bit to his surprise, Nimoy chose one of his refinements as the template for the final studio model or as he has put it, "What's funny is I think that's what Leonard responded to. When laid out all these things on the table, he pointed to the study model that I had done and said “That one.” And I think it was just because it was so much more familiar. It was quite a surprise when I found out that was the one he wanted. There were a couple of the other study models that I really liked, and I certainly hadn't trying to figure out which one he was going to choose."(Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 9, p. 70) The mere fact that Nimoy did chose one of George's models, warranted him his status as one of the co-designers of the Excelsior-Class. The physical model The 7.5 feet long studio model was built at Industrial Light & Magic's model shop under the supervision of Steve Gawley. Building upon the experience they had garnered from the construction of the the model in the previous outing, they made sure that the model made for easy handling and assembling by constructing it out of lightweight vacuformed pieces with easy access to the innards of the model. The model went on to make additional appearances in and . In 1987 the model was again at ILM, as the company was contracted to compile a library of stock footage for . As the scrip called for the appearance of the (the first ever appearance of an Exclsior-class vessel other than the "Excelsior" herself) she was relabelled as "USS Hood NCC-2541".http://www.btinternet.com/~ady1971/hood.html. As no dorsal views were ever used in the series, the registry number was never seen and apparently forgotten about, as the Hood was later endowed with a much higher number for her appearances in Deep Space Nine. The stock footage shot at ILM for the episode was extensively used throughout the entire run of the series and no new footage was ever shot for The Next Generation. In 1991, the model was refurbished and partly modified for its appearance in , yet again at ILM´s model shop. The bridge module was replaced with a smaller one, the large impulse deflector crystal was replaced with two smaller ones and the rounded, what the MSD called "aft crew lounge", was replaced with a more angular one. As for the bridge Bill George rationalized, "We changed the bridge on the ''Excelsior model because on this show, the bridge is actually very small-it's the Enterprise bridge re-dressed. The Excelsior was originally built for Star Trek III, where it had a cavernous bridge, and the model had a big bubble on top which I felt was always out of scale. We replaced it with a smaller bridge area which helped the overall scale of the model." (American Cinematographer, January 1992, pp. 58-59) Part of the refurbishment was the replacement of the ''Hood decals with the new call sign for the USS Excelsior, NCC-2000. A year later, the model was filmed in its original configuration one last time at Image G for its appearance as the in . The shot of the two [[Unnamed_Excelsior_class_starships#Hastur.27s_task_force|unnamed Excelsior-class vessels]] shown at the end of the 1995 episode was probably composited from previously unused stock footage filmed for Emissary, as the model by that time had already been converted into the . Redesign For the production of Star Trek Generations, the "'producers ... felt that the Excelsior had seen too many times in previous films; they wanted a brand-new design for the Enterprise-B. This presented a challenge how to maintain continuity and Trek "historical accuracy" while giving the audience a "new" ship. Mike Okuda felt the challenge could be met.'" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies) The modifications designed for the Enterprise-B were created by John Eaves, with the assistance of Okuda. According to Eaves: "Mike pointed out that we needed to design an area that protruded from the ship, so that the energy ribbon could whip out a section while leaving most of the ship intact." As a result, Eaves built a section of decks that extended out from the hull, surrounding the deflector dish that tapered gently on the bottom and flared out dramatically on the top. Eaves added that "the addition of the decks gave the B's belly section a look similar to that of a (a flying boat of the 1940s)." Ultimately their modifications produced added girth to the design, which increased its overall size, while still retaining the original Excelsior design. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies) Additional modifications made to the model include the removal of the two fins off the top of the saucer, and the addition of two major impulse engines, one on either side of the existing impulse engines. The nacelles "capped" and a dorsal fin was added to the top, along with the inclusion of a running fin along the outer edge of the nacelles. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies) Once the new design was approved by production designer Herman Zimmerman and executive producer Rick Berman, they were sent to the Visual FX division of ILM, where the new sketches were used by Bill George and John Goodson to transform the existing Excelsior model into the Enterprise-B. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies) The Enterprise-B/''Lakota'' model (measuring 92½" × 32") was listed in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction with an estimated sale price of US$3,000 to US$5,000; it sold for US$110,000 (US$132,000 with premium). A much smaller concept model (measuring 14¾" × 7" × 3") was later sold on It's A Wrap! sale and auction for US$511.99. Also sold off on IAW was an Excelsior- class starship schematic lot, drawn by J. Moll in 1992. The Jein model Since the original model could not be returned to its original configuration, a new one was built by Greg Jein when the Excelsior appeared in "Flashback," which was built at a smaller scale with minor differences – even though it was supposedly the same ship as seen earlier. For example, "Flashback" features the only appearances of the USS Excelsior s warp nacelles glowing, although the episode also incorporated footage from Star Trek VI in which the nacelle sides did not glow. This model continued to be reused until a CGI Excelsior was built for later seasons of DS9 and Voyager. The CGI model also incorporated the glowing nacelle sides. ''Technical Manual'' The following information of specifications and defenses comes exclusively from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual: * Production Base: ASDB Integration Facility, Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars * Type: Explorer * Accommodation: 750 officers and crew; 130 visiting personnel; 9,800 personal evacuation limit * Power Plant: One 1500 plus Cochrane warp core feeding two nacelles; one impulse system * Dimensions: Length, 511.25 meters; beam, 195.64 meters; height, 86.76 meters * Mass: 2,350,000 metric tonnes Apocrypha The advent of the Excelsior design and transwarp are referenced in Diane Carey's novel Battlestations! and also the non-canon licensed reference Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise by Shane Johnson. Shiplists and specifications of many unseen and conjectural Excelsior-class vessels are included in many role-playing game supplements such as the Federation Ship Recognition Manual and the TNG Officer's Manual from FASA, and the Decipher sourcebook Starships, although much of the information conflicts with other sources. According to the novel Ghost Ship, some Excelsior-class ships in the 24th century have the ability to separate their saucers, including the and the Hood. In the video game Star Trek: Elite Force II, the player character leads a mission aboard the Excelsior-class vessel USS Dallas, NCC-2019. The dedication plaque states that the Dallas is the "last starship of her class." In the novel adaptation of , Captain Sulu is performing an emergency saucer separation drill aboard the when he receives word about Kirk's death aboard the . External links * * * cs:Třída Excelsior de:Excelsior-Klasse es:Clase Excelsior fr:Classe Excelsior ja:エクセルシオ級 nl:Excelsior klasse it:Classe Excelsior Category:Federation starship classes